Business roundup: Ribelin named president of surveyors society

Published 12:00 am Saturday, February 25, 2012

SALISBURY — Norman Ribelin has accepted the presidency for the Yadkin Chapter of the N.C. Society of Surveyors.
Ribelin owns and operates Ribelin Land Surveyor at 333 Surveyor’s Drive in Salisbury. He graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a degree in geology.
BBQ Rally gearing up
SALISBURY — Organizers are gearing up for the second annual Biker Blues & BBQ Rally and BBQ Classic this fall.
Tilley Harley-Davidson, 653 Bendix Drive, will once again host the three-day event, set for Sept. 20 through 22. Sponsorships and vendor spaces are available by contacting Gary Moss at info@bikerbluesbbqrally.com or 704-638-6044.
Early plans include:
• Uncle Buck’s Pre-event Party
• BBQ and Blues Party featuring nationally known blues artists Big Ron Hunter Band and The Jill Dineen Band
• Tom McGrath’s Final Finale Party featuring The Right Turn Clyde Band
• Harley-Davidson dealer PIN stop
• Raffles of leather jackets, grills and more to support charities the Folds of Honor Foundation and Salisbury Fraternal Order of Police lodge no. 87
• Nearly 80 Kansas City Barbecue Society-certified judges have signed up from nine states
• Free admission and family fun
To learn more, visit www.bikerbluesbbqrally.com .
ISSI annual awards
SALISBURY — Industrial Supply Solutions Inc. recently held annual dinners for employees, their families and retirees.
The company recognized top performing team members, and the Salisbury branch and several employees earned awards for commitment and contributions.
The Salisbury team was, for the second year in a row, ISSI’s No. 1 performing branch. The team earned recognition for exceptional performance for income and inventory management.
Salisbury was also the No. 1 branch in reducing customer cost. ISSI tracks customer-approved cost reductions and production enhancements through the Saves program. ISSI Salisbury helped customers achieve Saves of 154 percent of total sales, and ISSI’s total customer Saves topped $32 million, a new record.
Salisbury team members receiving accolades were:
• Phil Hill, Salisbury branch manager, 15 years of service.
• Sam Sobataka, No. 1 in Saves and top 10 for exceeding goals, 23 years.
• Danny Lentz, top 10 for exceeding goals, 18 years.
• Mark Lowery, top 10 for exceeding goals, 13 years.
• Tina Coe, No. 1 in Saves on the materials management team, 10 years.
• Mary Beth Corbett, walked 4,000 miles in 2011 as part of a health promotion program and won $500.
“These employees represent the heart of our culture,” Frank Carmazzi, president of ISSI, said in a press release. “Our culture is based on having fun meeting our work commitments, being positive, living in the present, acting as one, helping and caring for our families, fellow employees and customers, and doing what we say we will do — working with the knowledge that ‘the buck stops here,’ with each of us.”
ISSI is a wholesale distributor with operations in 11 states, Canada, Mexico and the Bahamas. Salisbury is the home office.
Food Lion part of Project Santa
SALISBURY — For the 11th consecutive year, Food Lion donated food to Project Santa, providing 448 families and individuals with food for this past Christmas season.
“We really would like to thank Food Lion for its support of this program,” project organizer Keith Garner said.
Project Santa screens families and individuals to determine their need. Due to layoffs, many families and individuals were in desperate need this Christmas. Most of these families in the program had to spend Christmas money on rent and heat.
The families included 718 children in Rowan, Davidson, Cabarrus, Montgomery, Stanly and Randolph counties.
Each donated box included about 20 pounds of canned and boxed food, as well as a ham or turkey. Families with three or more children received twice as much.
December marked the 54th year Project Santa has delivered food and toys to those in need.
Food Lion, based in Salisbury, is a subsidiary of Delhaize America, the U.S. division of Brussels-based Delhaize Group, and operates more than 1,100 supermarkets in 11 Southeast and Mid-Atlantic states.
Food Lion discount onmummies at Discovery Place
SALISBURY — Food Lion customers can now take advantage of a special offer of $5 off full-price ticket and audio guide packages for Mummies of the World at Discovery Place in Charlotte through March 23. The discount is available in the weekly circular and online.
The exhibition gives customers a chance to see a collection of more than 150 specimens, including real human and animal mummies and related artifacts from around the world.
You can download the special-offer coupon by going to http://www.foodlion. com/Promotions or can find it in the Food Lion weekly circular. Full price admission to the exhibit plus an audio guide is $29 for adults, $23 for children ages 2-13 and $25 for students and seniors.
Yon to speak at real estate investors meeting Tuesday
Rowan Real Estate Investors and Associates will meet on Tuesday to hear Bob Yon, owner of New Dream Home Solution.
Yon has been investing in real estate for several years and is founder of the Rowan Real Estate Investors and Associates group.
He will be discussing wholesale real estate investing. He will describe how new investors can get started in real estate investing with little money or risk involved.
The group meets regularly at China Buffet in Salisbury at 7 p.m. on the fourth Tuesday of each month. The meeting is open to anyone who would like to attend. (China Buffet is on Arlington Street behind O’Charleys near Interstate 85 exit 76).
Simmons wins public relations group awards
Ashley Simmons was recognized recently with two Blue Ribbon Awards by the N.C. School Public Relations Association. The awards were presented on Jan. 27 at the Association’s Effective Communication Celebration at the Hilton Garden Inn in Durham.
Simmons received one award in the Special Purpose Publication Category and another in the Marketing Campaign Category for Design, Content and Versatility of Public Relations Activities. Simmons is a 2008 graduate of the School of Journalism and Mass Communications at UNC-Chapel Hill, and the Public Relations Officer for Richmond County Schools. She is the daughter of Al and Ann Simmons, formerly of Rowan County.
New hours at Peanut Doodles scrapbooking, art store
SALISBURY — Peanut Doodles in downtown Salisbury announces new hours to better serve customers.
The scrapbooking and art supply shop at 107 E. Innes St. is now open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday. The shop will be closed Monday and Tuesday but available those days by appointment for classes and private events.
Contact Peanut Doodles at 704-603-4294 or go to www.peanutdoodle.com .
Belk makes $18.3 million in charitable contributions
CHARLOTTE — Belk Inc. and its associates, customers and vendors contributed more than $18.3 million to local communities in the fiscal year ending Jan. 28.
Belk corporate dollars funded $5.1 million to more than 200 nonprofit organizations, with a focus on education, breast cancer research and awareness, and community strengthening. The remainder of the funding includes associate, vendor and customer dollars raised in Belk-led charitable initiatives, including Belk Charity Sale.
Key gifts in fiscal year 2012 included:
• More than $10 million to over 7,800 local charities through Belk’s semi-annual Charity Sale.
• $1 million gift over five years to fund The Belk Boutique at the Duke Cancer Center in Durham, which will provide hats, scarves, cosmetics and more to cancer patients.
• $1 million to Susan G. Komen for the Cure, which includes corporate, associate and customer dollars and is the second year payment of a three-year commitment to fund breast cancer research and awareness efforts across the Belk footprint.
• More than $800,000, including corporate, associate, vendor and customer dollars, in disaster relief funding to help Tuscaloosa, Ala. and other communities in the Southeast rebuild after the April 2011 storms.
• More than $700,000, including corporate and associate dollars, to local United Way chapters across Belk’s 16-state footprint.
Key gifts funded directly by Belk, Inc. included:
• $750,000 to The Belk Foundation to assist in its efforts to ensure all students receive a quality public education.
• $350,000 to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, $250,000 of which funded a grant at the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center in Chapel Hill.
• $200,000 sponsorship over two years of Major League Baseball’s Civil Rights Game in Atlanta.
• $50,000 to support the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) Scholarship Fund.
In addition, Belk supported almost a dozen fashion shows to raise money for charities in local communities, as well as numerous store fundraising events.
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